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SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX 



SONNETS o/SORROW 
AND TRIUMPH 



BY 



ELLA WHEELER WILCOX 

AUTHOR OF "POEMS OF PASSION," ETC. 




NEW YORK 
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 






^b%\*S 



COPYRIGHT, 1918, 
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



FEB 28 1918 

©CI.A481865 



AaA) I 



IN MEMORIAM 
R.M.W. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

A MAN 11 

Forecast 

ONE OF US TWO 15 

THAT DAY 17 

how will it be ? . 19 

the land between 20 

interlude 22 

Sonnets of Sorrow 
i to xxii 25-46 

Retrospection 

understanding 49 

time and i 50 

SEAS, SHIPS AND SHORES 52 

A PRAYER 56 

A THRENODY 57 

DRAW ANCHOR 58 

[vii] 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

THE HILLS OF GOD 59 

NEWS FROM THE FRONT 61 

THE BURNING GHAT 63 

"HE WHO DOETH ALL THINGS, DOETH ALL 

THINGS WELL" 64 

TRIUMPHUS 68 



[viii] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND 
TRIUMPH 



SONNETS OF SORROW 
AND TRIUMPH 



A MAN, 
R. M. W. 

Methinks high forces were unloosed by God, 
At your conception; and from star to star 
The Unseen Helpers of the earth-race trod, 
Bringing new light from regions fair and 
far. 
So many human lives seem accident : 

They do not speak of any purposed plan, 
But yours — ah! yours was most divinely 
meant. 
The Lords of Karma called to earth — a 
Man. 

Not one to lead vast armies into war, 
Not one intent on any large reform, 

[ii] 



SONNETS OP SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

But one who makes each day worth living for 
To those who walk with him in sun or storm. 
Could this be said of all who come to birth, 
How peaceful and how wonderful were earth! 



[12] 



FORECAST 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



FORECAST 

ONE OF US TWO 

The day will dawn when one of us shall hearken 
In vain to hear a voice that has grown dumb. 
And morns will fade, noons pale, and shadows 
darken, 
While sad eyes watch for feet that never 
come. 
One of us two must sometime face existence 

Alone with memories that but sharpen pain. 
And these sweet days shall shine back in the 
distance, 
Like dreams of summer dawns, in nights of 
rain. 
One of us two, with tortured heart half broken, 
Shall read long-treasured letters through 
salt tears, 
Shall kiss with anguished lips each cherished 
token 

[15] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

That speaks of these love-crowned, delicious 
years. 
One of us two shall find all life, all beauty, 

All joy on earth, a tale forever done; 
Shall know henceforth that life means only 
duty, 
O God! O God! have pity on that one! 

May 12th, 1886. 



[16] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



THAT DAY 

O Heart of mine, through all these perfect 

days 
Whether of white Decembers or green Mays, 
There glides a dark thought like a creeping 

snake, 
Or like a black thread which by some mistake 
Life has strung through the pearls of happy 

years — 
A thought which borders all my joy with 

tears. 



Some day, some day or you or I, alone, 
Must look upon the scenes we two have known, 
Must tread the self -same paths we two have 

trod, 
And cry in vain to one who is with God, 
To lean down from the silent realms and say, 
"I love you," in the old familiar way. 

[H] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

Some day, and each day, beauteous though 

it be, 
Brings closer that dread hour to you or me. 
Fleet-footed joy who hurries time along 
Is yet a secret foe who does us wrong. 
Speeding us swiftly, though he well doth know 
Of yonder pathway where but one may go. 

Ay, one will go. To go is sweet, I wis, 

Yet God must needs invent some special bliss 

To make his Paradise seem very dear 

To one who goes, and leaves the other here. 

To sever souls so bound by love and time 

For any one but God, would be a crime. 

Yet death will entertain his own, I think. 
To one who stays, life gives the gall to drink. 
To one who stays, or be it you or me, 
There waits the Garden of Gethsemane. 
Oh, dark, inevitable and awful day, 
When one of us will go, and one must stay. 

October 13th, 1898. 
[18] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



HOW WILL IT BE? 

How will it be when one of us alone 

Goes on that strange, last journey of the soul, 
That voyage on which no comradeship is 

known? 
Will our dear sea sing in the old sweet tone, 
Though one sits stricken where its billows 
roll? 
Will whisperings of love be backward blown? 

When our united lives are wrenched apart, 
And day no more means sweet companion- 
ship; 
When fervent night, and lovely languorous 
dawn, 
Are only memories to one sad heart, 

And but in dreams fond kisses burn the lip, 
Dear God, how can this same fair world 
move on? 

February l&th, 1903. 

[19] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



THE LAND BETWEEN 

Between the little Here and larger Yonder, 
There is a realm (or so one day I read), 
Where faithful spirits, love-enchained, may 
wander, 
Till some remembering soul from earth has 
fled; 
Then reunited, they go forth afar 
From sphere to sphere, where wondrous angels 
are. 

Not many spirits in that realm are waiting, 
Not many pause upon its shores to rest ; 

For only Love, intense and unabating, 

Can hold them from the longer higher quest. 

And after grief has wept itself to sleep, 

Few hearts on earth their vital memories keep. 

Should I pass on across the mystic border, 
Let thy love link me to that pallid land. 
[20] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

I would not seek the heavens of finer order 

Until thy barque had left the coarser strand. 
How desolate such journeyings would be 
Though straight to Him, were they not shared 
by thee! 

Wert thou first called (dear God, how could 
I bear it!) 

I should enchain thee with my love, I know. 
Not great enough am I, to free thy spirit 

From all these olden ties, and bid thee go. 
Nor would a soul unselfish as thine own 
Forget so soon, and speed to Heaven alone. 

On earth we find no joy in ways diverging; 

How could we find it in the worlds unseen ? 
I know old memories in my bosom surging 

Would keep thee waiting in that Land be- 
tween, 
Until, together, side by side we trod 
A path of stars, in our great search for God. 

July 5th, 1907. 

[21] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



INTERLUDE 

The days grow shorter, the nights grow longer, 
The headstones thicken along the way ; 

And life grows sadder but love grows stronger 
For those who walk with us, day by day. 

The tear comes quicker, the laugh comes 
slower, 

The courage is lesser to do and dare; 
And the tide of joy in the heart runs lower, 

And seldom covers the reefs of care. 

But all true things in the world seem truer, 
And the better things of the earth seem best ; 

And friends are dearer as friends are fewer, 
And love is all as our sun dips west. 

Then let us clasp hands as we walk together, 
And let us speak softly, in love's sweet tone ; 

For no man knows, on the morrow, whether 
We two pass by, or but one alone. 

November, 1909. 
[22] 



SONNETS OF SORROW 



SONNETS OF SOEllOW AND TRIUMPH 

SONNETS OF SORROW 
1916 



Praying for light, and praying all in vain, 
Since not one lamp was shining in God's tower ; 
Praying for strength to bear consuming pain 
Yet growing weaker with each passing hour; 
Praying for hope the while relentless Fate 
Marked out hope's grave, and dug it dark and 

deep, 
My trembling lips at last could formulate 
Only a prayer for sleep — forgetting sleep. 

That plea was answered. From her silent place 
Sleep came and touched me with oblivion : 
Yet was that touch robbed of all healing grace : 
For when she rose up in the awful dawn 
She left but this in answer to my prayer — 
New strength to suffer with renewed despair. 

[25] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



II 

I know my heart has always been devout, 
And faith burned in me like a clear white 

flame. 
There was no room among my thoughts for 

doubt. 
Though hopes were thwarted and though sor- 
rows came, 
God seemed a living Presence, kind and just, 
And ever near. Yea, even in great grief 
When parents, friends and offspring turned to 

dust 
He stood beside me, refuge and relief. 

But when one hideous night you went away 
Deaf to my cry and to my pleadings dumb, 
You took God with you. Now in vain I pray 
And beg Him to return: He does not come: 
Nor has He sent one Angel from his horde 
To comfort me with some convincing word. 
[26] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



in 

You were so wonderful with quiet faith; 
Only the Saints and martyrs of the earth 
Held such unalterable high thoughts of death, 
As those which filled you from your hour of 

birth. 
And when we were together, many a time, 
We felt the Presences of Unseen Guests: 
And you saw visions, mystical, sublime, 
When forth your spirit went on astral quests. 

Yet at the crucial hour when you were called 
To leave me here, there was no sign — no sign ! 
God surely saw me stricken and appalled — 
Surely He might have eased such woe as mine. 
Oh ! fling my failing faith some bit of fuel, 
Lest God shall seem or impotent, or cruel! 



[«] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



IV 

My earthly friends, however occupied, 
With their own joys or troubles, came or sent 
Some sympathetic message ! Each one tried 
To soothe the heart by sudden anguish rent. 
But from that Higher Realm where you have 

flown 
And from that God we worshipped well and 

long, 
There comes no signal that my need is known — 
No spirit whisper bidding me be strong. 

God has so many angels, realm on realm 
Of varying rank and knowledge and degree: 
Could He not lend just one to take the helm 
And guide through space a spirit-ship to me? 
A thousand human hearts my grief has stirred : 
My God, my Robert, why have you no word? 



[88]' 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



You understood the woman side of me ; 

My vanities you met with smiling lip ; 

The fabrics that I wore you first must see, 

And pass upon them with wise censorship. 

You loved things not too sombre or too bright, 

But tender toned with colours softly blent; 

Yet, when I leaned above you, draped like 

night, 
You were unmindful and indifferent. 

One sigh of mine, one tear upon my face 
Wrenched your dear heart with sympathetic 

grief. 
Yet, when I held you in that last embrace, 
Torn with a torture which found no relief, 
You lay and smiled with such a knowing air 
Of mighty peace as if you did not care. 



[29] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



VI 

My love, my love, how often in old days 

I cried, "Oh, I would die for you, dear heart !" 

But He who planned the parting of our ways 

Appointed unto me the harder part. 

He cares not greatly for my thanks, I wis, 

But in your converse with Him (which must 

be, 
Since that, and only that, accounts for this 
Astounding silence between you and me), 

Say that from out a life all bruised and broken 
In grief too deep for tears to do their share, 
My prayers of gratitude are hourly spoken 
Because He saved you from the cross I bear. 
Such grievous pain, such unrelenting woe — 
You never could have borne it, dear, I know. 



[30] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



VII 

This thought I welcome only, of the train 
That drove joy from its hive within my breast, 
Turned honey into gall, turned peace to pain 
And sent hope forth upon a bootless quest. 
This thought alone brings comfort to my mind, 
And so is bidden often to return, 
And ease the hurts that hour by hour I find 
In sounds that torture and in sights that burn. 

Old airs, old scenes, old anniversaries 
(Oh, life for us was Love's long carnival) 
And I repeat, "I saved you this and this," 
As on each sword of memory I fall. 
To save you sorrow was my prayer alway, 
But oh, the price, the price I have to pay ! 



rai] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



VIII 

At last a dream — at last a dream of you! 
Against the blank black curtain of the night 
I saw you stand. 'Twas but a dream, I knew, 
And yet my hungry eyes fed on the sight, 
My aching arms embraced you, and I cried, 
"How good, how good God is to let you come 
And bridge the chasm that has seemed so 

wide!" 
You listened smiling, but your lips were dumb. 

And then you vanished. All alone I stood 
(As evermore I stand, alone, apart,) 
Repeating softly, "God was good, so good, 
To let me dream of you." Oh, ravenous heart, 
How pitiful, how pitiful it seems 
To feed such hunger with but husks of dreams ! 



[32] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



IX 

From land to land, from coast to bloody coast, 
Our planet trembles with loud sounds of strife. 
The seas are ravaged by a warring host, 
The air is filled with menaces to life. 
Men talk of nothing but the news of war; 
And with the coming of each crimson dawn 
Come new calamities and horrors, for 
Events are shaped by what minds feed upon. 

As in a nightmare, we unheeding hear 
That which awake would fill us with affright. 
The woes of earth fall dully on mine ear, 
Nor am I moved by its appalling plight. 
For all these things seem trivial beside 
This monstrous fact — orte night in May you 
died. 



[33] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



X 

My sick and suffering heart is newly stricken 
When Night departs and Dawn adjusts its 

robe. 
As some poor wounded wretch might sink and 

sicken 
Seeing the surgeon bare his shining probe. 
The sun was loth this morning to awaken ; 
It held its radiance back and seemed to wait 
As if it knew my joy had all been taken 
And one long day would fain abbreviate. 

Then in that little pause as if from heaven 
This message flashed authoritative, brief: 
"What boundless wealth of love to you was 

given — 
How vast the joy whose loss could mean such 

grief !" 
All through the day with lifted brow I went 
A pauper now, who once was opulent ! 
[34] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



XI 

"What boundless wealth of love!" — the sen- 
tence stays 

And lends wan lustre to each leaden hour. 

I am as one who in bleak autumn days 

Recalls the beauty of his rose-wreathed bower. 

I am as one who in the desert sands 

Must slake his thirst on thoughts of running 
streams. 

Or 'mid the ruins of his palace stands 

And reconstructs it with the stuff of dreams. 

That boundless wealth of ours! My own, my 

own, 
It could not vanish into nothingness. 
God must have made a strong-box of His 

throne, 
And stored it there, our future lives to bless. 
Oh, my first words, when death has set me free, 
Will be this cry, "The key, dear God, the key !" 

[35] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



XII 

If, till we met, no Maker had existed, 
If life was finite and man but a clod, 
This flaming love of ours has so persisted 
Its very glory would have made a God. 
It was too vast for love of man and woman, 
Too high for earth, too mighty for the tomb; 
It grew up over and beyond ways human, 
And sought a garden of perpetual bloom. 

Long, long ago, we sensed that garden's 

beauty, 
And talked together of its pure delight. 
How is it now you feel no urge of duty, 
To help my straining vision gain its sight? 
How is it that, although I gaze and hark, 
I find but deathly silence — and the dark? 



[36] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



XIII 

We scaled all heights, we probed all depths of 

passion ; 
Soul spoke to soul and flesh thrilled unto flesh. 
Our love rose from the senses, lotus fashion, 
And bloomed in sun-kissed air and waters 

fresh. 
We sailed our ship through many a stormy 

ocean, 
But came to anchor in a Bay Serene 
Where in an exaltation of devotion 
We grasped the fullness of what love may 

mean. 

Oh ! Was it that we two, again united 
Debt free, throughout eternity might go, 
That my crushed heart by separation blighted 
Was forced the final sacrifice to know? 
God needs must make new ecstasies in heaven 
To pay for this last anguish He has given ! 

[37] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



XIV 

Full many a roadway that we trod was rough, 
And we met foul as well as sunny weather ; 
Yet not one day did we find long enough 
Though three decades we journeyed on together. 
Even when shadows on our path were cast 
And when with care or grief we were sad- 
hearted, 
Too soon each sunset came, time fled too fast, 
And the dear nights of sleep too soon departed. 

Now all the moments move with leaden feet, 
The hours are weighted with their load of sor- 
row; 
And the once tender nights that were so fleet 
Stare through the dark> and dread the coming 

morrow. 
And at each laggard sunset now I say, 
"Nearer Death's gate, thank God, by one more 
day!" 
[38] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



XV 

Loving you so I loved the world entire, 
Your friends, your kin, yea, all created life, 
My heart seemed glowing with a holy fire 
And every thought with tenderness was rife. 
I sought to lighten sorrows and to teach 
The ecstasy of life to every being; 
And prayed for greater usefulness to reach 
And share my insight with each soul unseeing. 

But since you went away from earth with Death 

I seem to have no feeling left to give, 

Save sharp surprise toward all things that 

have breath 
Which cries in wonderment, "You live! You 

live!" 
Ignoble satisfaction adds this cry, 
"To all, to all shall Death come by and by." 



[39] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



XVI 

Oh, to wake once again with that old joy, 
That consciousness of angels hovering near! 
Oh, for a shaft of light that would destroy 
This dark despondency, this nameless fear! 
My radiant thoughts had never given form 
Or substance to those two unbidden things; 
Yet in that night of devastating storm, 
Bat-like they came on black and brooding 
wings. 

My mind has lost its optimistic course 
And sunk in quicksands of despair and gloom, 
Nor have my wildest prayers the drawing force 
To lift me back to sunlight and to bloom. 
Oh, Everlasting Arms, reach out, reach out, 
Before I sink in madness, or in doubt ! 



[40T 



SONNETS OP SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



XVII 

I who have sung so loud of God's great power, 
I who have loved Him with unswerving love, 
Cry vainly now, hour after torturing hour, 
And no response comes from those planes 

above. 
I deemed myself a joyous instrument 
Finite in form but infinite in scope; 
In life's grand orchestra my tones were blent 
Ever in strains of gratitude and hope. 

Now as a harp all broken and unstrung 

Of which the Heavenly Players have grown 

weary 
And carelessly upon the highway flung 
Where vagrant winds may sing a miserere, 
I lie with all the music in me dumb, . . . 
Oh, great Repairer and Attuner, come ! 



[41] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



XVIII 

The wise ones tell me that my heart's wild 

clamour 
Must change to calm before J feel you near. 
While Pain beats on it with its hob-nailed 

hammer, 
How can I find the way to quiet, dear? 
I sit down in the silence praying, praying, 
"God's Will be done, but give me help at 

length." 
I wait, but Pain, that mighty hammer swaying, 
Deprives the silence of all healing strength. 

Then when I turn to action, swift and cruel 
Leaps Memory in my path and bids me stand, 
And challenges my bleeding heart to duel, 
Knowing how I must suffer at its hand. 
Oh, my Beloved, let this conflict cease 
And show me how to find the path to peace. 



[42] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



XIX 

Full sixteen thousand million souls are here 
Upon the earth, and yet not one or all 
Can rouse my old-time pleasure in this sphere 
Or from my shrouded heart remove the pall. 
But could I see your face or hear your voice 
For one brief moment, dear, or touch your 

hand 
Then would I wake to rapture and rejoice 
Though death and devastation filled the land. 

I knew I loved you; but life made not plain 

How utterly you were my world entire 

Until I stood alone and tried in vain 

To find diversion, interest, or desire. 

Bereft of you, I am of all bereft, 

While sixteen thousand million souls are left. 



[43] 



SONNETS OP SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



XX 

There always was a longing in your heart 
For some large labour that should aid man- 
kind. 
Dear, listen to me, let me do my part 
And help you now that wondrous work to find. 
There is but one great need for all the race — 
The need of knowledge to uphold its faith. 
Then come, or send some message on through 

space 
That shall convince the world there is no death. 

In all God's universe there could not be 
A holier task, methinks, for any soul. 
Oh, not alone to ease the heart of me, 
But to give consolation to the whole 
Sick, suffering hordes of earth, stand not aloof 
But cleave the silence with the proof — the 
proof ! 

[44] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



XXI 

So many mansions in our Father's house, 
So many paths that lead out onward There, 
Perchance when first from slumber we arouse 
We must for longer journeyings prepare. 
I do recall a time you went before 
To build a home on earth for me one day ; 
And when you passed out through the open 

door 
I did not try to hinder or delay. 

But I remember how your messages 
Sped over space and made the dull hours glow. 
Is there no way to solace me in this 
Increasing loneliness that hurts me so — 
This silence utter, awful, and profound 
Which bruises more than any crash of sound? 



[45] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



xxn 

Wild sorrow in my bosom has been raging — 

Wild war has torn the earth and stained the 
water. 

From homes of peace have men gone forth en- 
gaging 

In bitter conflict and in bloody slaughter. 

Women have sent their loved ones out, believing 

The way was shown them by God's pointing 
finger ; 

They smiled farewell and hid all signs of griev- 
ing, 

And sped the footsteps that were fain to linger. 

For you, beloved, to whom God has beckoned, 
What have I done to help you find the road? 
With my own anguish only have I reckoned — 
On your dear spirit have I placed my load. 
Now will I lift and bear it to the end — 
Unto your Father's place ascend, ascend. 
[46] 



RETROSPECTION 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

RETROSPECTION 

UNDERSTANDING 

1917 

The snowdrops and the crocuses 

Bloomed in the olden way : 
The stately tulips followed on — 

The pansies had their day; 
The roses came — and yet the year 

Brought neither June nor May. 
And now the tiger lilies lift 

Their freckled faces high; 
And now the sun is blazing down 

From out a cloudless sky — 
And yet it is not Summertime, 

Though Summer days drag by. 

His dog looks up the lonely lane"' 
He knows the reason why. 

[49] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



TIME AND I 

Time and I were friends long gone; 
Though he was my master 
I would say to him each dawn 
"Faster, faster, faster! 
Somewhere farther down the road 
We will find fair love's abode: 
He is waiting me, I know — 
Let us swifter go!" 



Love was waiting there ahead 
In his open door. 
Once with him, to Time I said 
"Slower, slower, slower! 
Love and I would be content 
If most leisurely you went." 
But Time ever hastened so 
He became my foe. 
[50] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

Now I hold Time dear once more 
And his favour curry. 
And I cry out as of yore, 
"Hurry, hurry, hurry ! 
Love has made a new abode — 
I would join him down the road." 
But Time has grown old and slow 
And the days lag so. 



[51] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



SEAS, SHIPS AND SHORES 

The Inlands of the Middle West 

Are far from sounding seas ; 

And where my early years were spent 

Not even running rivers lent 

Their music to the breeze. 

But there were billowing fields of grain 

That ofttimes mocked the green-hued main 

When summer decked the leas. 



Yet alway in those early years 
I felt a sweet unrest; 
And deep within the heart of me 
There was a longing for the sea: 
The reindeer in my breast 
Seemed ever eager to set forth, 
As reindeers in the snowbound north 
Make once their briny quest. 
[52] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

It must have been the voice of Love 
That this strange longing stirred: 
For when I found the sea one day 
It was dear Love that led the way, 
And they became one word. 
Love was the sea, the sea was Love, 
And all life's joy was made thereof, 
When once that voice I heard. 

Now oceans, islands, sounds and seas 
And ports where vessels lie, 
And harbours where they sail away 
And surging billows decked in spray 
Where wide-winged sea-gulls fly, 
And beaches where the bathers rove 
All, all are properties of Love 
With their blue-arching sky. 

The glaciers and majestic Alps, 
The mountains filled with ore, 
The cities with their mighty throngs 
Are yours — but unto me belongs 

[53] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

To Love and me, each shore; 
Where all the billows of the world 
By God's tremendous hand are hurled 
And ours is all their store. 

We sailed and sailed and sailed again 

Our wonder seas of earth : 

We sailed to every port and clime, 

We laughed at danger and at time, 

And life was full of mirth; 

And joy was in our sea-girt home 

And when we roamed, joy, too, would roam 

And bunk beside our berth. 

But one May night Love sailed away 
Across a Mystic Sea : 
I know not why he went alone 
To some far harbour all unknown, 
Nor how this thing could be 
That suddenly he should embark 
On that strange vessel in the dark 
Without one call to me. 
[54] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

Love left me all the seas of earth 

And all their cargoed ships; 

And memories within each hold 

More precious than a mine of gold. 

But joy is in eclipse, 

And must be, till I too enroll 

On that same ship, and my freed soul 

From out the Harbour slips. 

And though all seas and ships are mine 

By right of Love made so, 

Yet when that Craft that came at night 

Shall come again for my delight 

Is not for me to know. 

I only know I cannot fail 

To see at last its splendid sail, 

And leap on board, and go. 



[55] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



A PRAYER 

I Know it cannot be irreverence, 
This feeling that I have anent that time 
When with my life work finished, I go hence, 
Leaving this low plane for the upward climb. 
My father God, and Christ my beauteous 

Brother 
Have ever owned the deepest heart of me. 
Yet when I journey on, there is one other 
I first would meet, and clasp, and hear, and see. 

God and His holy Son have host on host 
To welcome, and to comfort, and to cheer; 
I think They would not mind it, if the most 
Beloved soul They took from me, drew near 
To show the way. ... Lord ! Up the golden 

street 
Let my love lead me to Thy shining feet. 



[56] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



A THRENODY 

Love in the sweet, sweet morning 
Of life's long radiant June; 
And two hearts beating together 
In time with the robin's tune. 

Love in the splendid noontide 
Of glorious Summer days ; 
And two hearts growing together 
In all life's tenderest ways. 

Love as the sun slants westward 
While the Autumn woods flame red: 
And two hearts bound together 
By a passion mixed with dread. 

Love in the early evening 

As the Winter time draws near: 

And one heart breaking, breaking, 

Alone in the shadows drear. 

Thank God that only twelve month* 

Are in the longest year! 

[57] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



DRAW ANCHOR 

So much of beauty have I seen on earth, 
So much to marvel over and admire; 
Yet each new sight but bred a new desire 
To stray still farther from the quiet hearth. 
My hand in yours, we spanned our planet's 

girth; 
From Alpine summits, looked on summits 

higher ; 
Saw fierce Stromboli set the night on fire; 
In fair Ceylon, saw dawn's exquisite birth. 

Now am I stirred with mightier unrest 
For longer journeys than of old I knew. 
I would set forth upon that final quest — 
That Large Adventure which has come to you. 
Somewhere you wait to show new worlds to me. 
Pilot! draw anchor! let my soul go free! 



[58] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



THE HILLS OF GOD 



Always your aims for me were large and high : 
Your love was generous as the love of heaven. 
The best things life could hold you wanted 

given 
Into my keeping. So sweet years went by, 
While watchful angels seemed to hover nigh, 
And all the blessings for which you had striven 
Were showered on me. Then the link was riven. 
Was it your own great soul that bade joy die? 

Ever you sought perfection for me, dear, 
And all that makes for ultimate true gain. 
Perchance because your vision was so clear 
You understood that only those attain 
The Heights Beyond, who walk through valleys 

here. 
Was it for this you left me to such pain? 

[59] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



II 

But oh, you did not, could not comprehend 
How dark the valley and how long the road, 
(Since days are years in sorrow's drear abode) 
Or else you had gone nearer to the end 
Before you left me. Pain, to be our friend, 
Must use a chastening hand but not a goad, 
Nor wound us so we cannot lift our load 
Up the hard winding pathways that ascend. 

I think you must be startled and amazed, 
Seeing the blooddrops where my feet have trod. 
But I think, too, your opened eyes have gazed 
Upon celestial summits, beauteous, broad, 
And that you know the trail my soul has blazed 
Leads somehow, sometime, to those Hills of 
God. 



[60] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



NEWS FROM THE FRONT 

Detached from life, the women overseas, 
Wait only for one thing — news from the front. 
The olden joys, and worries, hopes and cares, 
Aims and ambitions, which made up their days 
Are meaningless and empty. Nothing seems 
Of any import but the waited word 
From dear ones who have heard the country's 

call 
And answered it, and left vast loneliness 
And hunger of the heart in silent homes. 

Bravely they do the things that must be done, 
And make no protest; but, one wish alone 
Fills all their thoughts bv day, their dreams 
by night — 

News from the front ! 

I, too, detached from all that life once meant, 
Perform my duties and pursue my tasks 

[61] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

As cheerfully and as bravely as I can: 
While like dead leaves on bleak November winds 
Old aims, ambitions, interests and desires, 
Blow by me. One who heard the call of God 
And answered it, left such vast loneliness 
And hunger in my heart, that now my life 
Has room for only one compelling wish 
Which fills my thoughts by day, my dreams by 
night — 

News from the Front ! 



[62] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



THE BURNING GHAT 

Adown the Ganges, at your side I sat 
And floated, musing on each scene and spot: 
We heard the grim tale of the Burning Ghat, 
We saw the place where widows once were 

brought 
And living, cast upon the funeral pyre. 
We shuddered at the story. But, today 
I think it was a kind and friendly fire 
That took the mourners from their grief away 
A little time of terror, and despair, 
A few brief tortured moments, then release 
From suffering and loneliness and tears. 
Oh, my Beloved ! Life gives me to bear 
Perpetual pyres, and flames that never cease; 
A Burning Ghat of slowly dying years. 



[63] 



SONNETS OP SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



"HE WHO DOETH ALL THINGS, DOETH 
ALL THINGS WELL" 

These the words I chanced upon 

While my heart seemed breaking 
With its loneliness, and loss of the days 

agone — 
Down upon the open wound, aching, aching, 

aching, 
One by one like balm they dropped with a 

soothing spell — 
"He who doeth all things, doeth all things 

well." 



He who fashioned worlds from space, 

He who set in motion 
All the planets, systems, suns, giving each its 

place, 
He whose thought conceived and flung forth 
continent and ocean — 
[64] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

Gave the fragrance to the rose, shaped the 

tiniest shell — 
"He who doeth all things, doeth all things 

well." 



He who gave me form and breath — 
Gave me all my pleasure — 
Lord of every Universe, Lord of life and death, 
Though he gives me gall to drink now in fullest 

measure, 
Yet the bitter like the sweet from his fountain 

fell— 
"He who doeth all things, doeth all things 

well." 

He who let his spirit flow, 

Into stone and jewel, 
Unto all things gave Himself (as above, be- 
low,) 
Nothing in that Cosmic Mind could be wrong 
or cruel: 

[65] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

Through earth's discord sounds a voice like a 

silver bell, 
"He who doeth all things, doeth all things 

well." 

From the mineral to the man 

Out from primal sources, 
Gathering knowledge all the way to complete 

the Plan, 
Down from God, and back to Him move the 

spirit Forces — 
Shedding light along the path every doubt to 

quell — 
"He who doeth all things, doeth all things 

well." 

Grief and joy are one to God 

Who beholds tomorrow: 
We shall see it with his eyes when the Way is 

trod — 
We shall understand the scheme of this life of 
sorrow ; 
[66] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 

Every voice that now complains yet this truth 

shall tell, 
"He who doeth all things, doeth all things 

well." 



[67] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 



TRIUMPHUS 



At last, at last, the message! definite 
As dawn, that tells the night has gone away. 
The Silence has grown eloquent with it — 
The Silence that, late filled me with dismay, 
So dumb it was. Triumphant now I sit 
So near to God and you I need not pray 
For only prayers of thankfulness were fit 
For this estate wherein I dwell to-day. 



You live, you love me ! You have heard my call 
And answered it in your own way. The proof 
So satisfies the soul of me, were all 
The hosts of earth henceforth to stand aloof 
Till I recanted — my reply were this — 
"One men call dead has sent me messages" 
[68] 



SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH 
II 

Oh, my Beloved! Through these months like 

years 
I know you might have reached me sooner here, 
Had I not blurred the trail by storms of tears ; 
And yet, how could, how could I help it, dear? 
Now you have found a way to make God's 

spheres 
Seem very intimate and very near. 
And radiant — my lonely path appears, 
The light you cast upon it is so clear. 

I stand victorious at the longed-for goal 
With open vision where I once was blind, 
And cry aloud to every suffering soul 
"Pray without ceasing — seek, and ye shall find. 
Though Science sneer and school and church 

condemn — 
Your dead dwell near — you may commune with 

them." 

THE END 

[69] 



H28 75 



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